To be well nourished in the case of HIV disease, or any chronic condition requiring good nutrition, the goal is to be able to look back on the day's eating and feel like you consumed all the important nutrients you needed to support your system that day.

Remember your digestive system evolved over 1 million years of gathering foods in the wild. You ate mussels off the rocks in the stream for breakfast, and had grubs from stumps as you cruised the forest. You ate tubers and other roots from the ground. You even wrapped fruits in leaves and gourds, buried them in the ground and ate the fermented results many months later, just as your dog still does with his bones. Our vestiges of this cuisine, are things like sauerkraut and aged olives. The soil-based mold was even good for our immune system, helping keep gut flora population vigorous.

So, do not worry about eating any special combination of starch and seeds, or animal flesh and fruit. Focus instead on getting a lot of all the good stuff. A smart diet, as outlined in other areas on this site, involves eating 4-5 fruit servings a day and at least a few cups of vegetables, plus more protein than you imagined. (For a good primer on food choices, their pros and cons, you might want to check out Jennifer's article Pyramid Power. Also, see the Q&A on HIV Pantry and Diet Plans for examples of what kinds of foods a Positve Person should be eating.)

In the primal forest, there was no luxury of sayng, "Oh, I just had a salmon, I can't possibly eat kidney beans now." Luckily, our bodies can handle whatever comes at them just fine, including some nice worms and crickets if you want!!!

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